The Alchemist Study Guide

What type of tree grew through the old sacristy?

Sycamore

T/F: Santiago said he needed to start reading shorter books?

False: he needed to read bigger books cause they lasted longer and made better pillows

How many sheep did the boy have?

60

Describe the girl that Santiago liked at the start of the book.

daughter of a merchant, flowing black hair, eyes that vaugely recalled the Moorish conquerors

How long did Santiago talk to the merchant's daughter at the start of the book?

2 hours

What was the merchants daughter fascinated by about Santiago at the start of the book?

he was literate

What did Santiago's parents want him to become when he grew up?

a priest

Why did Santiago want to be a shepherd? What did his father say to this?

he wanted to discover new lands. His father initially rejected the idea, but eventually gave Santiago his blessing

What did Santiago's father give him when he decided to be a merchant?

3 ancient spanish gold coins

How many years had Santiago studied at the seminary before becoming a shepherd?

16

The Alchemist teaches Santiago that if you did not pursue your Personal Legend, you would suffer from regret. Give an example of when Santiago encountered this.

Coelho writes, "The boy could see in his father's gaze a desire to be able, himself, to travel the world; a desire that was still alive, despite his father's having had to bury it, over dozens of years, under the burden of struggling for water to drink, food to eat, and the same place to sleep every night of his life." (12). This is after Santiago's father gives him the blessing to be a shepherd and travel the world.

What city was the gypsy who interpreted dreams in?

Tarifa

What picture comforted the boy while with the gypsy?

an image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

__________ are the language of God

dreams are the language of God

Describe the boy's dream that he had the gypsy interpret

"I dreamed that I was in a field with my sheep, when a child appeared and began to play with the animals. Suddenly, the child took me by both hands and transported me to the Egyptian pyramids. At the pyramids, the child said to me, 'if you come here, you will find a hidden treasure.'" (Coehlo 15)

What did the gypsy want for payment?

1/10 of the boy's treasure, should he find it

What did Santiago's book talk about on the first few pages?

a burial ceremony

What does the King say the world's greatest lie is?

That at one point in everyone's lives, we lose control of what we do and fate takes over

What city did the King say he was from?

Salem

What blinded Santiago during his encounter with the King?

his golden chestplate

What did the king want in exchange for information of Santiago's Personal Legend?

1/10 of his flock of sheep

"The Soul of the world is nourished by people's _______________"

happiness

Who does the King point out to Santiago as a person who did not pursue his personal legend?

the baker

The king tells Santiago a story of how he helped this person achieve his personal legend; describe the legend and person.

A miner; to find the most beautiful emerald. On the last day he was looking for a jewel, the last rock he picked up was the emerald. This may be foreshadowing to the Emerald Tablet later in the book

"If you start out by promising what you don't even have yet, you'll lose your _________ to work toward getting it"

desire

What was Santiago's first omen?

a butterfly, which his grandfather taught him was a sign for good luck

What was the name of each of the stones that the king gave him? Which color represented what?

Urim and Thummim; black was yes and white was no

How many times did Santiago use Urim and Thummim?

once

The King told Santiago a story about being vigilant using these as an analogy

drops of oil in a spoon

What city in Africa did Santiago go to first and where in this city?

bar in Tangier

As a child, Santiago looked at a picure of Saint _____ ______ on a ______ ______

Santiago Matamoros; white horse

What was the forgotten minor detail that posed a major impediment when Santiago arrived in Africa?

Only Arabic was spoken in this country, and Santiago spoke Spanish

What is Santiago's favorite drink? Why was this strange to Africans?

Wine; it was forbidden by Islamic tradition

What did Santiago drink while at the Tangier bar?

bitter tea

What was the Arabic bartender trying to warn Santiago about when he walked out of the bar with his new "friend" who spoke Spanish?

That his "friend" was actually a thief

While in the market, the boy was distracted by what, which led to him losing his life savings to the thief?

a beautiful sword in a silver scabbard

What happened in Tangier when the priest chanted from the tower?

everyone fell to their knees, turned to Mecca, and prayed

"When you want something, all the ____ conspires in helping you to achieve it"

universe

What was the one question that the stones answered when the boy asked them?

whether the old man's blessing was still with him

What happened when Santiago asked the stones if he would find his treasure? Why did this happen?

the stones fell through a hole in the pouch. This symbolized that there were certain questions that he shouldn't ask the stones

After being robbed, who did Santiago first help the following morning?

a candy merchant

How long had the crystal merchant worked for before meeting the boy?

30 years

What did the boy offer the crystal merchant when he first met him?

to clean his crystal works in exchange for food

Why did the boy initially work for the crystal merchant?

to get money to buy more sheep and give up on his Personal Legend

What did the boy suggest as his first of two improvements to the merchant for the crystal shop? Why did he suggest this? When?

To build a display case for the crystal to attract customers, because the principle of favorability was on their side; on his third day.

What are the five "pillars" (obligations) of Islam?

"The most important is to believe only in the one true God. The others are to pray five times a day, fast during Ramadan, and be charitable to the poor." The fifth one is to make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in your lifetime

"I'm afraid that if my dream is realized, I'll have no reason to __ __ ______" ~ Crystal Merchant.

go on living

When did Santiago suggest his second improvement to the crystal shop? What was it?

To sell tea in the crystal glasses; after two months of working.

What were the boy and merchant doing while discussing selling tea in crystal?

smoking a hookah

"Every ___ ignored becomes a ____"

blessing, curse

How long had the boy been in Africa when he decided to stop working for the crystal merchant?

11 months, 9 days

Why did the boy change his mind about being a shepherd after working for the crystal merchant?

He held the stones (U and T) in his hand and realized that he had the power to go on and that he could always go back to being a shepherd

How old is the alchemist?

200 years old

Where did the boy meet the Englishman?

in a corral while waiting to leave for Egypt in a caravan

Before studying Alchemy, what did the Englishman study?

Esperanto and the world's religions

T/F: Santiago finished his book while at the Oasis.

False, Santiago never got past the first few pages in all his years of trying to read.

How many people/ animals were in the caravan?

200 people, 400 animals

"The closer one gets to his _____ , the more that [it] becomes his true reason for being"

Personal Legend

Before being a camel driver, what was one of Santiago's caravan friend's occupation? Why did he become a camel driver?

he owned an orchard near El Cairum, and became a driver because of a terrible Nile flood that ruined his land.

Describe the Bedouins and what they did

they were mysterious hooded men who did surveillance along the caravan route and provided warnings about thieves and tribes

"Our life stories and the history of the world were _______ __ ___ ____ ____"

written by the same hand

The boy told the Englishman that he needed to look at the ___ more, and the Englishman told the boy that he needed to look at the ____ __ _______ more

caravan, textbooks of alchemy. Neither one could learn from the other's way of learning

After the tribal wars began, but before the caravan reached the oasis, what did the group change as a result of these wars?

they began to travel both by day and night

"I'm interested only in the _______. If you can concentrate on [this], then you'll be a happy man."

present

The Oasis was lined with an endless row of these

date palms

How many wells were there at the oasis? How many palm trees?

300 wells, 50,000 date palm trees

The Alchemist said that the oasis looked like it was from this book

A Thousand and One Nights

What did all of the members of the caravan have to do when they arrived and why?

hand over their arms; because the oasis is a neutral zone

What surprised the boy when he saw the englishman just before enetring the oasis? What was the englishman carrying?

He was carrying a chrome plated revolver, and this surprised the boy

Santiago was placed in a tent with ____ other boys at Al Fayoum

5

women dressed in ___ to symbolize ____

Black, marriage

Who told Santiago about the alchemist?

Fatima

Where did Santiago meet Fatima?

at the well

T/F: The alchemist refused to see the Englishman, and simply told him "never return"

part one is true, but he said, "go and try", not "never return"

Fatima refuses to love Santiago when they were together because he first must

complete his personal legend so that she does not have to leave the desert

The desert women believed that men who did not return

became part of the soul of the world

The boy realized that the sahara desert had once been a sea because he found

shells

The boy got a vision of an army attacking the oasis when he saw

two hawks flying and one make a diving lunge at the other

"Always heed the _____"

omens

On page 106, the camel driver talked to a seer. This seer specialized in

the casting and fortune telling of twigs

How many oases cheiftains were there?

8

What do the cheiftains compare the dreamreading boy to?

the story of Joseph and the technicolor dreamcoat

What was the boy awarded for his reading of dreams?

a piece of gold for every ten dead enemies

The alchemist appears to Santiago first as a

horseman dressed entirely in black with a falcon on his shoulder

"_______ is the quality most essential to understanding the language of the world"

courage

Where did the alchemist live?

on the south side of the oasis

How many people attacked Al Fayoum? How many people defended it?

500, 2000

Why did the tribe attack the oasis?

The soldiers were starving, thirsty, and exhausted

How was the commander of the tribe killed at the oasis?

he was hung from a tree

What title did the boy earn after the oasis battle?

he became counselor of the oasis

What did the alchemist tell the boy about his personal legend?

that he knew everthing he needed to know to find it, and although he was rich, he still needed to go to the pyramids to fufill his personal destiny

Why did the Alchemist tell Santiago to trade his camel for a horse?

because camels are traitorous in that they tire and show no sign and collapse all at once, while horses show you how tired they are so that you can plan.

"____ attracts life"

life

What type of animal did the alchemist find when Santiago's horse led them to life in the desert. What did the alchemist do once he had this animal?

cobra, and drew a circle around it with a scimitar, which the snake never left

What did the alchemist always carry with him?

his falcon and scimitar

Why was the boy sad on his journey to the pyramids with the alchemist?

he had to leave Fatima

The alchemist tells the boy that if he does not pursue his personal legend, this will happen.

he will suffer from regret

How long did the alchemist and boy travel through the desert?

around 2 weeks

What was special about what was written on the emerald tablet?

it can not be understood through reason alone

" Listen to the _____. It knows all things, because it came from the ____ __ ___ _____, and it will one day return there"

heart, soul of the world